High School: Gonzales to get new artificial turf football field and all

GONZALES – You could hear the emotion in the voice of long-time Gonzales High multi-sport coach and lifelong resident Mike Ramirez.

A facility for the ages could break ground as soon as October after the Gonzales High Unified School District Board of Trustees voted 4-1 in favor of installing a synthetic turf field and an all-weather track into Dick Force Stadium.

“We’ve been teased in the past,” Ramirez said. “This time the right language and right people have talked to the district about it. It has been a long time coming. It’s going to be a site to see.”

Gonzales and York School are the only high schools in the county with a track and field facility that don’t have an all-weather track.

The decision to lay synthetic turf on the football and soccer field instead of grass makes Gonzales the first south Salinas Valley school to install turf.

“This is surreal,” Gonzales athletic director Margie Daniels said. “This is huge for the community and the student-athletes. I’m extremely proud and excited.”

With discussion at the board meeting of starting the project in October — pending bids — it’s possible that Gonzales may have to move its final two home football games on the road.

“If this is what it takes, we will be ready to play wherever,” Gonzales football coach Eddy Ramirez said. “My only concern is making sure our seniors get a proper home sendoff, that we know in advance what is our final home game.”

Gonzales is in the process of accepting bids for the project, which was made possible by a bond that was passed two years ago, but had only seen a new stadium scoreboard installed last year.

Daniels, who is beginning her 10th year as a physical education teacher on campus – and third year as an athletic director, asked for more input on the project.

“I felt we, the community, as well as the coaches needed to be more involved and informed on the progress,” Daniels said. “I did not have any answers for people.”

One of the oldest high schools in the county, Gonzales’ grass field has been ravaged by gophers and other rodents in recent years, while the track is composed of dirt on an oval laid out in yards instead of meters.

“We are so tired of hammering down starting blocks into the dirt during practice,” said Daniels, who is also the head track and cross-country coach. “We used it as part of the workout. Now we will have more practice time.”

Mike Ramirez, a 1974 Gonzales graduate, began coaching track on campus in 1985. He has also coached soccer and cross-country in the past, and even served as an athletic director for a year.

“I started here with wooden hurdles,” Mike Ramirez said. “We lose kids each year that do not want to walk from the campus to the stadium. Having an attractive facility will improve turnout.”

The Spartans’ stadium rests on the edge of Highway 101, roughly 500 meters from the campus. The stadium has been a staple of the community on Friday nights for 58 years.

“We are starting to invest in our facilities,” said Eddy Ramirez, who is also a Gonzales graduate. “The kids deserve this. We’re going to have a modernized stadium.”

While partial to grass, Eddy Ramirez understood the time it takes to maintain turf and the expense is challenging. Plus, the facility is used for other sports and physical education classes.

“To be honest, I prefer grass,” Eddy Ramirez said. “But I see the benefit of turf. This just isn’t for football. It’s for all sports that use the field. I’m on board.”

Early renditions of the plans call for an eight-lane all-weather orange track, with the relay zones in black, and white lines for the lanes and numbers.

The long and triple jump pits will be on the visitor’s side of the field, while the pole vault and high jump facilities will be near the east entrance of the stadium, similar to the dimensions at Monterey Peninsula College.

The shot put ring will be off to the side near the starting line, while the discus cage will be placed on the opposite side of the stadium beyond the west end zone.

There is also talk of a field house – similar to the one built at Pacific Grove’s Breakers Stadium – where visiting players can dress, instead of walking up the neighborhood from the school.

“You know track is the only sport on campus that we can’t host,” Daniels said. “This facility is going to improve our city overall. The community will be able to walk on it.”

Because the lengthy winter left puddles on the track last year, Mike Ramirez saw people walking in the parking lot instead of the track for exercise.

“At times it’s (facility) been an eyesore,” said Mike Ramirez, who has lived down the street from the stadium for nearly 40 years.

Football won’t be the only sport that might see some disruption. The boys and girls soccer programs will have to find a place to practice in the winter, playing all of their games on the road, as well as track and field in the spring.

“We may have to use the hallways and tennis courts for track practice in the spring,” Daniels said. “But we’ll make it work.”

Last year Gonzales had nearly 80 kids come out for track. It has a proud tradition, as Fetch Lopez holds the county record in the high jump at 6-feet-11 ¼ in 1990.

In addition, Mike Ramirez has helped coach five athletes to the state meet, including four-time state meet qualifier Iran Serrano (1998-2001) in the pole vault.

In fact, all state qualifiers for Gonzales have come in the pole vault, including Otis Daniels, Randy Lanini, Vanessa Yebra and most recently Kate Almond in 2005.

New goalposts will also be put in for a football program that has 10 league titles. What’s left to be decided is what logo will sit in the center of the field and what the end zones will look like.

“I hope I have a say in it,” Eddy Ramirez said. “If it was up to me, I’d have a big ‘G’; in the middle of the field, with black end zones, with ‘Gonzales’ in orange in one end zone and ‘Spartans’ in the other.”

Seaside’s facility went with a similar style with black end zones, only with ‘Seaside’ and ‘Spartans’ in all red and the Spartan logo in the center of the field.

“If you look at North County’s facility, I think ours will be comparable when it’s done,” Mike Ramirez said. “We have similar settings around our stadiums.”

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